Yosemite 2019

This is power, relentless and deadly. Not a place for the selfie-crowd to ply their trade. I noticed that they pretty much confined themselves to the bridge. Nice and safe..

At the time, I was alone up here, and that helped a lot. I have no fear of heights, but can get that bit of stomach flutter in certain situations. I expected it here, with about a 900-foot drop below me. My toes were about a foot and a half to the edge. However, nothing at all. I was totally unperturbed looking down and taking these two pictures, before I went to where the rail was. In the distance you can see the valley where I had to get to. It's a long way away, but I expected 'gravity assist' the whole way.

From behind the protective railing, you can shoot practically straight down into the fall. It's truly spectacular, deafening, and overwhelming.

Long story short. After crossing the white bridge, the path continues and there will be just one more fork in the road. What you see ahead is a small fall that hits the trail. There is no way around and it goes on for some distance. Staying close to the cliff helps, better yet, so does some rain gear. Still, nothing compared to Mist Trail.

An old giude on the River Gauley in W. Virginia, during a two-day white water rafting trip, would always have us stop the boat after each rapid. He would say, stop and look back at where you've been and what you've accomplished. I do that often.

Suddenly a case of deja vue. On that multi-day hike in Colombia to the Lost City (not lost anymore), we'd hear the yells and whistles of the mule drivers behind us. Here they were carrying huge chain saws used to cut up any trees that fell across a hiking path. I actually saw a number of them, nicely split, to open the path for us hikers.

After this I had an interesting and relatively long but fast walk to the bottom. There is another bridge, some restrooms (temporarily out of commission) and a water station. Between that and the very bottom, the cirular road, where the buses run, and where were tons of people of all ages milling around. I guess that's one way to go hiking while keeping it pleasant, safe, and painless. My various and intermittent companions made it a resonably fast and entertaining hike to the bottom.